All that I need
by A Laurent
Summary: Based on of-a-crescendo's Soulmate fic.  Read it if you haven't!  Kurt Hummel has dreamed about his soul mate Blaine Anderson all of his life, but what happens when Blaine isn't what Kurt expected. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

Kurt Hummel looked up at his father with wide blue eyes, his left hand clasped tightly in his right.

"Daddy…"

"Yea, son?"

Burt Hummel glanced down from his paper and laid it down at the kitchen table. It took him all of two seconds to know that something was wrong. He set his jaw as he turned all of his attention to his tiny 10 year old son.

"What… What is this?" Kurt was trembling as he held out his left hand for his father to inspect.

Burt's breath caught in his throat.

Of course there was nothing there, at least not to Burt. His son's hand was soft, small, and perfect. But, he also knew what Kurt saw when he looked upon his hand. Burt's left hand closed and his fingers brushed over the name that was a part of the skin on his palm.

Elizabeth McKenna.

Burt's soul mate.

Kurt stood waiting with expectant eyes. Burt heaved a heavy breath and pulled his son into his lap, kissing the top of his round head.

"Kurt, it isn't about what I see. It's about what you see. So, tell me, what do you see?"

Kurt swallowed and answered with his ten-year-old simplicity, "A name."

"Do you know who's name that is?"

"No, it's a stranger's. It's nobody I've ever met."

Burt closed his eyes and hugged his son a little tighter.

"That name, Kurt, is the name that belongs to your soul mate. One day you're going to meet her, and you're going to fall in love with her. She'll also have your name in the palm of her hand. She's a part of you and you a part of her."

Kurt blinked at his father. For a long moment he didn't say anything. Burt frowned a little at this. He remembered when his mother told him what Elizabeth's name meant that he was happy. There was girl out there that he was going to marry one day and he knew her name. He remembered lying in bed that night just staring at his palm and feeling as if the world was a smaller and better place. But, Kurt, he just seemed even more confused that before. His gaze had gone back to his palm, and his mouth was twisted as if he wanted to ask a question but couldn't figure out which one he wanted to ask.

"D-does yours have Mom's name?" he asked softly

"Yes." Burt answered softly, stretching his hand and trying his best to keep the memories of his beautiful dead wife at bay.

Kurt was silent. His hand was clenched and his eyes were transfixed on it as he slowly reopened it again and frowned. He repeated this action a few more times each yielding the same result.

"Kurt… What's wrong?" Burt asked after watching his son.

"Dad…" Kurt was silent for a very long time now. He didn't move once in his father's arms. Burt had to listen very hard to hear, "What kind of a name is Blaine?"

Burt's mind went blank for a moment. Blaine? What? And, then Burt pieced it together. Why else would his son be bringing the strange name up? His heart hammered in his throat.

"Blaine is a boy's name Kurt." Burt stammered out looking down and meeting his son's wide, open eyes that were just pleading for his father to understand because he didn't.

"I thought so." Kurt said simply and softly.

Kurt burst into tears then, clutching to his father with all his small strength and Burt just wrapped his arms even tighter around his back.

"It's okay Kurt. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I love you, son. It's okay."

Kurt had Burt. That's all he would need for now.

The next few years were hard of course with Kurt finding out who he was and becoming a bright young man and Burt learning to fully accept his son and loving him even more for it.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the classmates of Kurt.

He knew what people thought. That to have the same sex's name inscribed on your hand was wrong. That for it to happen meant that you had some type of weird genetic mutation. Kurt knew that not everyone thought that, but that still didn't mean that he went around advertising his soul mate's name like some other people at his school did. Instead he mostly kept it to himself. He didn't see the need to let everyone know that he, Kurt Hummel, was meant to be with Blaine Anderson for the rest of his life.

Only his close friends knew, and that meant the entirety of the McKinley High Glee Club. The only people he had ever known in his life to truly accept him. They were like a family. Well, except for Finn, but that was only because him and Kurt actually were family.

Kurt liked that he didn't feel the compulsive need to hide Blaine from them like he did with the rest of the school.

Which is why Kurt was now in his room with his best friend giggling as they gossiped and wondered about the men that they would one day call theirs.

Mercedes Jones sat across from Kurt on his bed one night cross-legged and hugged a large pillow to her chest.

"I hope Sam has really pretty eyes." She said wistfully. "They're always the first thing I notice about a guy."

"I'm sure Sam is beyond gorgeous since you only deserve the best." Kurt smiled as he finished applying Mercedes' mud mask.

"What do you think Blaine will be like?"

Kurt paused.

It wasn't that Kurt had never thought of what Blaine was like, in fact, that was typically the number on thought running through his mind, but he just didn't know where to begin.

"Handsome, of course." He began with his go-to snarkiness. But, after a moment's pause, his walls came down and he gently spoke, "He'll be proud, but not excessively. Someone… someone nice, and gentle, and kind. He'll have this sense of adventure, like he'll always be able to find fun in anything. He'll be musical, of course, and… he'll make me feel… safe."

Mercedes gazed at her best friend as he stared at the ground looking from far away in his mind, lost in his own thoughts. The bullying at school he could live with, even though the bullies didn't have a full confirmation, Kurt still knew that they suspected his sexuality.

He never denied it though when they called him the hurtful names. Let them think what they thought. Whether he was gay or not wasn't going to change the fact that people hated him for no reason other than the fact that he was different.

Mercedes reached out her hand and gently laid it on Kurt's shoulder to pull him away from his thoughts.

"It'll be okay, boo. High School doesn't last forever."

Kurt smiled and turned back to her. "No, it doesn't. I'm sure when we're both on Broadway we'll laugh at the petty people who pushed us around as we roll around in giant piles of cash."

They both burst out into giggles and not a single care was given for the rest of the night.

Kurt had Mercedes and the New Directions, and that's all he would need for now.

"Kurt."

"Rachel?"

"Seeing as that you are the only one in this class that would be able to keep up with my academic prowess I think it would be best if we sat next to each other during this class period. That way we will be able to converse intelligently while keeping up a healthy level of academic competition."

"Rachel.

"Yes, Kurt?"

"It's Home Ec. Not Rocket Science."

The petite brunette was quiet for a moment, and Kurt took a second to bask in this unusual event knowing how rare it was when the girl didn't speak.

"Being that as it may my offer still stands."

"Yes, Rachel you can sit next to me."

She beamed that contagious smile and Kurt felt himself smiling back as she took her place on the stool next to him.

Normally there would be three to a table in the class, but apparently there was a shortage of people that signed up and a few stools in the class remained empty.

Kurt looked around and saw that, unsurprisingly, he was the only male in the class.

He let out a heavy sigh and looked down at his cooking utensils. The heavy weight of loneliness sinking ever lower in his stomach. Normally, something as frivolous as this wouldn't affect him, but as he was coming to find out, more and more things were beginning to bug him.

Honestly they shouldn't be though. He looked over at Rachel who was humming softly to herself and doodling in her notebook, and once again Kurt felt a wave of sadness hit him.

She had found her someone, her soul's mate, in Finn, Kurt's stepbrother. Maybe it was odd that they had found each other in high school, but it was becoming less of a rare occurrence now a day. Mike and Tina had found each other, Brittany and Artie, although the way she and Santana looked at each other sometimes had him wondering. Even Mercedes had found Sam when he transferred to McKinley at the beginning of the year. Ever since then she has been more busy and unintentionally putting Kurt on the back burner. She hadn't meant to, he knew that, she was just too caught up in finally finding love.

Now, Kurt wasn't one to mess around. He knew people that still dated other people whose names weren't inscribed on their palms. But, something about that seemed off to Kurt. He knew he would never be able to date someone knowing that it was going to end sooner or later. He couldn't invest his heart and soul into that. Besides he hadn't even met another gay teenage boy in his life, so prospects were rather slim.

No, Kurt would wait for Blaine. He just really wished he would hurry his ass up and find him.

The elderly Ms. Gregory made her way into the room then snapping Kurt out of his thoughts and calling him to the processes of flambé and sauté.

It was later in the week when he first heard the news amongst the football players in Glee.

Finn and Puck were talking animatedly with excited smiles plastered across their faces. Rachel was snuggled up against Finn's side and met Kurt's confused look as he took his place next to Mercedes behind them.

"Big football news." She answered his unasked question. Kurt nodded accepting this, but Finn over heard and looked over at his girlfriend.

"What's that?" he said, a big goofy smile lighting up his face.

"I was explaining to Kurt why you're acting like a five year old that's had one too many energy drinks." Rachel explained turning her attention back to her sheet music in her lap.

"Oh yeah!" Finn turned to his stepbrother and smiled even possibly more. "We're getting a new transfer student! He plays football and apparently is one of the top kickers in the state! We're gonna dominate this season!" He quickly turned to Puck who high-fived him with a look of determination plastered over his face.

Kurt rolled his eyes and smiled while rolling his eyes. Mr. Schuster walked in then and proceeded to talk about this week's assignment. Disco.

Kurt did his best to not bash his head against his textbooks as the group quickly protested. Brittany looked as if she might start crying.

This was going to be a long week Kurt thought. Little did he know exactly how true statement would be.

He didn't see him until the middle of the week when he was standing at his locker to retrieve his French notebook. One minute he's glancing at the picture of him and Mercedes taken last summer, the next he's up close and personal with that photograph and the left side of his face throbs with pain from being pushed so hard.

"Morning Homo!" Azimio calls out at him and high fives another guy in a red letterman's jacket. Kurt glances at them for a moment and notices the unfamiliar face. He has curly dark hair and eyebrows and wide smile as he laughs at something Azimio said. He's short, but stocky, and has really good skin for a football player.

Kurt bends down to pick up his dropped notebook and when he looks back up he meets the new football player's gaze for a brief moment before the stranger turns his attention away and doesn't look back again.

"Hmm… that must be that new football player Finn was talking about.' Thinks Kurt and makes a mental note to stay as far away as possible from that new face.

Unfortunately Kurt can't stay away for too long because five minutes after Madame Rochelle calls roll the new football player struts casually into the room. He walks up to the teacher and briefly explains that he was late because Azimio was showing him around school. Kurt rolls his eyes at the cockiness in his voice and focuses on last class's vocabulary.

He barely registers what Madame is saying until, "…student from Westerville, Blaine Anderson."

Kurt hears a rushing sound around him and thinks that might be the world as it falls out from under him. He knows what he looks like. His eyes are as wide as dinner plates, his mouth pressed in a thin, thin line, and his skin has gone twice as pale as it normally is. His heart is lodged somewhere in his throat and his pencil has fallen from his slack hand.

He registers Mercedes' hand death gripping his leg then and the sharp pain anchors him back to reality. He looks over at her disbelieving gaze that's shifting between him and Blaine.

He slowly shakes his head to her as if to say 'Please don't say anything.'

Because this is not the Blaine Anderson Kurt had been dreaming of since his youth, this Blaine Anderson laughs as the person who is his soul mate gets slammed into lockers and walks away.

Kurt thinks he might vomit. He thought life was unfair, but never this cruel.

Glee that day was mass chaos.

Finn comes striding in the room at a fast pace with Rachel right behind him. Kurt's already seated with Brittany nuzzled into his side comfortingly, Artie seated in front of him with Mike, Tina, Sam, and Mercedes standing looking confused.

"Kurt… I…" Rachel doesn't know what to say for once in her life. She looks up to Finn hopeless. The whole Glee club knew, of course, exactly what Blaine Anderson was to Kurt Hummel. They had asked whose name it was on his hand when he came out to them.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't know." Finn murmurs. Kurt meets his gaze and just sighs.

"I know Finn. But really, how were we supposed to know that Blaine Anderson would be a closeted, football playing jerk?"

They didn't know what had happened this morning, but did they really? 9 times out of 10 the football player's were homophobic Glee hating bullies that made Kurt's life miserable. One pitying look from Finn and he already knew that Blaine had been told to stay as far away from the 'Homo' as possible so as not to 'catch the gay.'

"Do you want me to say anything to him?" Finn asked sincerely just trying to help his brother out.

"No. Thank you. But, no. It's not my job to out him, and I would appreciate none of you telling him who I am. The longer we avoid that the better."

"But, dude! C'mon! Maybe he needs to know who you are it might chang-"

"Finn!" Kurt yelled. His patience used up for the day. It was getting hard to not let it show just how much this situation truly affected him. "No. Just, please, do as I say?"

Finn nodded along with Rachel. They sat down next to Kurt and all talking basically ceased from there.

Kurt didn't pay attention as Mr. Schuster tried and failed as pointing out the finer qualities of KC and the Sunshine Band.

That night Kurt silently cried, because the boy that was supposed to love him for the rest of his life hated him and didn't even know him.

It was two weeks before Blaine found out exactly who Kurt was.

Kurt was lucky because in the one class he had with Blaine Madame Rochelle only called their first names. Finn and the rest of the Glee Clubbers had kept up their promise and the football players stuck to derogatory name calling when directing him.

But, every once in a while, someone slips up.

"Finn!"

Finn looked up to see his stepbrother waving at him from the sidelines of the football field. They had a five minute break to rehydrate and, or throw up before running more suicides.

"Make it quick, Hudson!" Coach Bieste shouts, acknowledging Kurt waiting patiently for a chance to speak to his brother.

Finn nods and sprints over to Kurt while the rest of the boys on the field shout after him.

"Enjoy your lady chat!" Azimio yells punching Blaine in the shoulder who grins at him.

Kurt rolls his eyes as Finn reaches him, but he can't stop the sick feeling of loneliness that he gets whenever he looks towards Blaine. He doesn't want to be near him, but at the same time Kurt can't help feeling a pull towards the curly haired kicker.

God, life fucking sucks.

"What's up?" Finn asks. He looks mildly concerned and his eyes scan Kurt quickly for bruises or scars. Luckily Finn can't see through to Kurt's back which is a mountain range of black, purple, and green bruises alike.

"Carol called. She and Dad are going out on a date. So, do you want to order pizza for dinner or…"

"Can we get Taco Bell?"

"No."

"Please, Kurt!"

"No!"

"Fine then. Pizza will be fine, but I want extra pepperoni!" Finn grumbles.

"Okay." Kurt sighs with a half exasperated smile.

"Awesome! Thanks dude!" and with that Finn runs back to the team, and Kurt turns to head toward the parking lot while dialing the pizzeria.

Bieste has the rest of the team already lined up for some drills and Finn rushes to take his place. He crouches down and hears Karofsky shout, "Hey Hudson, when you and lady over there get married are you taking his name or keeping yours?"

There's laughter amongst the guys and Finn has to grit his teeth to keep from pummeling him into the ground.

"You better watch yourself jackass!" Finn shouts.

"I think Finn Hudson-Hummel has a rather nice ring to it!" Trevor Jackson shouts.

"That's it!" Finn breaks formation and tackles the other boy to the ground and a full on row breaks out between the Glee guys and the football guys. Finn has Karofsky's helmet off and his smacking his face into the dirt, Azimio and Mike Chang are trying to get the other in a headlock, and Sam and Trevor have each other's jerseys.

It's complete madness and everyone has some one else to try and hit, but off to the side stands a completely dumbstruck jock.

'Hummel… what? Jackson said Finn's brother's name was Hummel.' Blaine Anderson thinks to himself staring off where he saw the sharp dressed male leave, "But… he's in my French class… his name… it's Kurt. Kurt… Hummel…'

Blaine's heart has made its way to his ears and he glances down at his hand in shocking awe. He feels sick, he feels disbelief, he feels… stupid. He simply let Kurt's first name fall on deaf ears thinking that there had to be more than one Kurt in the world, after all Kurt was a common name, right?

'No, you dumbass! How many Kurt's have you met?' He's staring at his hand where Kurt Hummel is written in loopy, slanted print.

Blaine Anderson feels the world fall out from underneath him and the realization of the whole situation hits him.

'Kurt knows me. He knows who I am… I was introduced in his class… he didn't say anything… nothing… I-… I laughed at him. But… what…'

He's confused, but mostly he's scared. Scared that his secret of being gay will get out, scared that if it does he'll be harassed off of the football team, scared that he'll never gain the chance to get an athletic scholarship, but he's mainly scared of the fact that he may have ruined the one chance he had at winning his soul mate's heart.

Blaine Anderson is scared that he lost Kurt Hummel without even knowing him.

So, what do people usually do when they're scared?

They run.

Blaine runs away from the football field and the squabble that Coach Bieste is now breaking up as she screams at the top of her lungs. He runs from Finn, Azimio, Karofsky, but he's mostly running away from Kurt.

Because, for right now, all that Blaine needs is to get away.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt Hummel most definitely did not notice the way Blaine Anderson was acting the following day at school.

He didn't notice the way the normally vibrant young football star practically reverted into himself, and he most definitely didn't notice the way Blaine carried himself in a way that made it seem as if he was scared shitless.

Kurt didn't notice how Blaine stared off into space during French class and practically jumped five feet into the air when another red jacket clad jock clapped him on his shoulder with an, "Hey man, you look a little sick."

Kurt didn't notice any of these things and instead focused on what he normally did around Blaine. Which was avoid and ignore at all costs.

What Kurt did notice was kind of impossible on his part to ignore.

He was gathering his things to leave French class and was in a rush since he needed to find Mercedes away from Sam and ask her about her upcoming plans during the weekend. He tucked his notebook safely under his arm, but had forgotten about his pencil, which was swept off the desk and careened to the floor where it proceeded to roll.

Right over to where Blaine was sitting and stopping right next to his foot.

Kurt stared blankly for a second contemplating on weather it would be a good idea or not to just sprint out of the classroom like a possessed man.

He realized too late that he had been standing still to long and could not easily escape without making his situation more obviously awkward to Blaine. While internal battle raged on inside of his head. Flight or Fight, Flight or Fight, Flight or Fight.

In the end the third option won out as Blaine Anderson leaned down and picked up the pencil.

Kurt's body was stock still as he waited for whatever might happen next. Blaine might do what Karofsky usually did which was to take the pencil and with a smirk say "Thanks, Homo!" If this was the case with Blaine then Kurt could not show fear. He would not let this newbie jock intimidate him in his own school no matter what he was supposed to mean to Kurt.

But, instead, Blaine simply held out the pencil, not meeting Kurt's eyes and said, "Here. You dropped this."

Kurt blinked for a moment and reached out to take the pencil trying to make the motion seem as ordinary as possible.

"Thank you." And with those words he turned on his heel to leave the classroom.

"Kurt…" That simple word coming from that mouth stopped Kurt and with a new wave of fear rushing over him he turned around to meet Blaine's startling amber gaze.

"Yes?" He found himself saying. Blaine's gaze was difficult to interpret. There were many emotions running rampant through the antique eyes. If Kurt had to describe it in one word, though, it would be open. Open like the ocean trying to pull him into its depths when all he wanted to do was get away. Kurt knew what lay underneath.

"Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt took another step away from Blaine, but their eyes were still locked.

"Yes." He answered before he broke the gaze and left the room with a thousand different emotions pounding through his bloodstream. Blaine had found out who Kurt was. This was a moment that was supposed to be cherished for the rest of his life. Kurt and his soul mate had found each other after seventeen years apart, and now they were supposed to go through the years as perfect compliments to the other.

Yes, indeed this moment would be cherished if it weren't for the fact that Blaine Anderson was closeted jock with homophobes for best friends.

In Kurt's mind making logical sense was the last process functioning. Instead, Finn's words from that chaotic day in Glee club came rushing back to the forefront.

"Hey, Boo." Mercedes said happily as Kurt marched up to her and Sam at the lockers. "Woah." She jerked back upon noticing Kurt's murderous expression. "What happened to you? It looks as if some one got dirt on your favorite Prada."

"Oh, believe me Mercedes, the situation is a little bit more dire than that." He calmed down enough for his best friend, but not enough to make her not gape at him and his fury. "Now, have you seen Finn anywhere?"

"What the hell, dude!" Finn exclaimed as Kurt slapped him over the head with his notebook repeatedly while he was sitting down waiting for the rest of Glee club to arrive.

"Finn Hudson, I swear to whatever higher power there is that I will burn your Xbox, make you watch, and then I will roast you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Blaine knows!" Kurt screamed, anger tears boiling just under the surface that he refused to release.

Finn blinked a few times taking in what his brother had said, his mouth opened in an 'o' of astonishment. "Kurt, you have to believe me, I didn't tell him." Finn's face was so earnest that it was impossible for Kurt to think he was lying.

"Oh…" Kurt straightened up a little bit as guilt hit him for attacking his brother in a bought of rage. "Well, I'm very sorry. But, he still somehow knows and now…" Kurt trailed off as his thoughts rapidly took over his mind. He stared at the floor as he imagined Blaine's beautiful gaze turned hard and cold in his direction.

"And now what, Kurt? Why is it so bad that Blaine knows who you are now? Maybe now that he's found you he won't be suck a jerk anymore. He'll change to be with you!" Finn's dumb earnestness made him look as if he was a small child finding out about Santa Claus for the first time. His naivety was just making Kurt angrier.

"Finn, shut up. If there's anything that I've learned in the past couple of weeks it's that life is not a fairy tale. You really think he'll change for me? He won't. He can't accept me when he can't even accept himself. Now, he'll still be with Karofsky and Azimio, pushing me into lockers, and laughing. Only, he'll now be doing it with the knowledge of who I am." Kurt's voice was getting thicker and thicker as his diatribe slowly came to a closing. He took a deep breath before finishing. "And it's going to hurt even more now, because it doesn't matter who I am to him and it never will."

With that Kurt could no longer hold back those horrid tears and left the room before anyone could pity him more

Finn didn't know what to do. Kurt was upset. He was withdrawing into himself like he did on the days when the bullying was particularly bad. Finn had made a promise to protect his brother no matter what, and so far he had not broken that.

So, Finn did the first thing he could think of to help and resolved to talk to Blaine after football practice.

The short kicker didn't say much on the field and had stayed out later to talk to Coach Beiste while the others headed for the locker room.

Finn waited with patience and spent a little more time getting undressed and showering to ensure that he and Blaine would be able to talk.

The moment presented itself when Blaine was pulling his t-shirt on after Finn had shut his locker.

"Hey dude, can I talk to you for a second?" Finn walked over grabbing the strap of his backpack.

Blaine looked up at him confused, but shrugged nonetheless and turned back to putting away his things. "Sure, what's up?"

"I know who you are."

"Uhh… yeah. I know who you are too, Finn." Blaine chuckled awkwardly.

"No, I mean, you're Blaine Anderson, and you're meant to be Kurt's." Finn stated with pure simplicity.

Blaine's back went rigid at his words and his teeth ground together, however, he didn't know whether it would be worth his effort to try to deny Finn's words or to threaten another boy at least a foot taller than him.

Finn wasn't expecting this silence from Blaine. He was kind of hoping to carry out the rest of this conversation based on Blaine's reaction.

"So… If you wouldn't mind, maybe you should be a bit nicer to Kurt. He's my brother and all, and you guys are kind of meant to be together."

Just then Blaine's mind got a little carried away. Kurt Hummel as his. He briefly imagined the other boy's face scrunched up adorably with laughter as he was spun around in Blaine's arms. They were both dressed in tuxes and two matching silver rings were glinting on their fingers.

A sharp memory of a loud crack and unbearable overwhelming pain made its way to the forefront of Blaine's mind, and he quickly snapped out of his dream. He turned on Finn scowling and angrily brushed harshly past him snapping, "I will never belong to Kurt Hummel, and if you know what's best for you, you'll keep your damn mouth shut!"

Finn felt defeated. Somehow, it seemed as if his confrontation had worsened the situation. In one last attempt to get through to Blaine he shouted, "You're just ruining your life. If you changed both of you would be happy."

Blaine had heard him but didn't react as his left the locker room leaving an exasperated Finn behind.

"Shit."

Kurt wasn't saying much. It wasn't even that he was sad and crying, but it was more like he was just defeated and somehow that was even worse.

Instead of focusing on his goals and dreams like Kurt normally did to make being stuck in a tiny town in Ohio more bearable, Kurt started seeing things more pessimistically.

People were rude. This town sucked. His school was a hellhole. Why would he expect it to be different anywhere else?

He knew that he was probably being overly bitchy and dramatic about this whole situation, but he couldn't help but feel his anger grow every day towards Blaine who refused to acknowledge him.

Kurt really was fine with that. Better to be ignored than to deal with a slushie to the face, but it was the fact that Kurt couldn't ignore Blaine. He noticed him everywhere. In class staring off into space, at lunch eating with the other jocks, even when he pulled up in the parking lot in some fancy old-school Chevy.

Try as he might Blaine had some type of weird pull on him and Kurt found it nearly impossible to escape. But, then one day, the Fates decided to give Kurt a break when Blaine didn't show up to school one Friday afternoon. Kurt felt his mood improve greatly, and he even found himself enjoying Glee for the first time that felt like in forever.

He was grinning as he, Santana, Mike Chang, and Tina sang the closing notes for their group performance of Dead or Alive's _You Spin Me Right Round_ for their 80's assignment. His mood didn't even deflate as he pulled up to his Dad's garage for the four-hour shift he picked up so he could have some extra money for shopping.

However, he felt as if someone had popped his balloon when he walked out of the locker room and into the garage to find a horribly familiar head of hair talking to his father.

"… There has to be something easier to do. Something that can be done more quickly!" Blaine was exclaiming. His curls were a mess and he had a very distraught air about him as he gesticulated wildly.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing else that we can do. We'll order the parts and they'll get here as soon as they can. Meanwhile, we'll keep the car here to figure out where that banging sound is coming from." With that Burt Hummel left heading into his office to make a few phone calls, and left Blaine and Kurt alone standing not ten feet from each other.

"Shit!" Blaine cursed not even realizing Kurt, who's eyebrows had risen in surprise form the outburst.

"Do you need a minute?" He found himself saying in order to avoid any more dramatics from Blaine who looked like he was about to start throwing things.

Blaine's head snapped up and his eyes found Kurt's. They sparkled with recognition and some other hidden emotion for a minute before closing off and narrowing.

"Whatever." He muttered embarrassed and running his hands through his hair.

"It's just a car." Kurt leaned over the hood of the car to see what the damage was. Blaine let out a defeated sigh and slumped against the driver's side door.

"You wouldn't understand." He stated.

"See that's where you're wrong." Kurt stated with as much bitchiness as he could muster. He had had it with the boy's attitude. Blaine didn't even know him, so who was he to judge him? "It's not that I won't understand, it's that I don't care enough to understand."

Blaine was silent before he spit out, "You know, maybe if you were a bit nicer people wouldn't think you're a bitch."

Kurt lost it then. He slammed the hood of the Chevy down and whirled on Blaine before he had a chance to realize what the hell was happening.

"Is that what they fucking told you on your first day? Give him hell because he's a fucking bitch? People don't like him because he's so bitchy? Laugh as he gets pushed into lockers because he's a bitch? Maybe, Blaine Anderson, maybe I wouldn't be such a bitch if people didn't fucking judge me from the moment they look at me. Don't you ever again tell me what the fuck to do, you prick, you don't have the right to." With that Kurt backed away from Blaine who was shocked from both Kurt's words and the close proximity of their bodies.

He had never felt more turned on in his life, but if you asked him, he would deny it.

"We'll call you when the parts for your car come in." Kurt called over his shoulder as he went to work on a black Nissan. When he looked around for a wrench five minutes later he saw that Blaine had left. Kurt smiled and hummed as he leaned back down.

All Kurt needed was a brief moment of peace away from Blaine, and he was quite content not think about him as he worked through his shift.


	3. Chapter 3

Kurt was thrown into the lockers four times and slushied three times the next week. Blaine was there for none of it. Kurt did see him hanging around with the jocks as usual, however, Blaine seemed to be making a point of staying out of the bullying. He had only ever been a standby before, but now he wouldn't come near Kurt.

Blaine, it had seemed, had taken Kurt's words to heart. The thought made Kurt smirk. The further Blaine was from him the better.

At the end of the week Kurt headed in for another four-hour shift at the garage. He should have been less surprised when he saw Blaine sitting in the chairs in the office, but the other boy's presence always caused some sort of shock to vibe throughout Kurt.

Blaine turned his head and his amber eyes met Kurt's blue ones before he quickly averted them and mumbled, "Hello."

Kurt opened his mouth to greet Blaine back, but his Dad's gruff voice suddenly called him from behind the counter.

"Yeah, Dad?" Kurt answered when he reached where his Dad was standing.

"Mr. Anderson's parts have come in for his car, however, the boy insists on helping out with the installment. Says he helped his Dad build this car from scratch. Now, normally this goes against my policy, but," Burt's voice dropped lower, "his name is Blaine Anderson, Kurt, your Blaine!" Burt's grin stretched across his face. "I figured this will give you guys a chance to introduce yourselves and you know… talk, but nothing other than talking. Just… talking, alright?"

Kurt nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. Of course he hadn't told his Dad what was going on at school. Burt had just survived a heart attack and Kurt didn't want to add his own problems to his Dad's own. So he didn't say a word about meeting Blaine, and his Dad had only thought that his mood swings were due to rehearsals for Sectionals.

"Okay, Dad. Sounds good." He said forcing a smile

"At-a boy." He clapped Kurt on the shoulder. "I'll be in the office if guys need anything. I'll check on you every now and then." Burt then turned the corner leaving only Kurt and Blaine with each other.

They stayed in awkward silence for a few moments before Kurt got tired of waiting for Blaine. "We have a couple of spare coveralls that might fit you." He said walking over to the hooks behind the counter, grabbing his and the ones that would fit Blaine. He turned around and tossed the boy the extra pair who caught them and stood up. His gaze was fixed on a point above Kurt's shoulder. "Go change and meet me in the garage. The sooner we get started the better."

Kurt didn't know if he was coming off as bitchy or not, but, truthfully, he was just stating facts and going through motions. He was simply treating Blaine as another customer.

In the safety of the locker room Kurt was able to safely and fully assess the damage to his body this week had brought him.

There was a long bruise starting at his left shoulder and crossing his back to the middle of the right side of his ribs. Random bruises were scattered amongst his back is various shades of green, purple, angry red, making some sort of sick rainbow.

He sighed and leaned forward towards the mirror to better examine the cut he received when his forehead came into abrupt contact with the vents of a locker.

"Kurt, these coveralls don't fit m-…"

Kurt didn't have time to react or cover himself up. He hadn't even heard Blaine come in.

"Kurt…"

Kurt's heart lurched because in Blaine's voice there was pity. Kurt had always been careful about letting people see the extent of his bruises. What they saw or might glimpse at above his clothing or on his face were only the tip of the iceberg.

Blaine was now the first one to ever see how bad the damage was.

"There's another pair on the hook where I got those ones from. Now, I would like to finish changing in private please."

Ignore the bruises, ignore the scars, ignore the homophobes, and ignore Blaine. They were simple enough tasks right?

There weren't any sounds for a moment then Kurt heard Blaine's muffled footsteps retreating slowly and the soft click of the door being shut as he left.

Kurt let himself slump forward and heave a sigh. 'Who the hell would want someone as damaged as him?' Blaine Anderson would never be his, but the fates had been cruel enough to say that he should be.

Kurt spent the rest of his time getting dressed trying to desperately ignore the ever-depressing thoughts raging in his head. He felt, at times, like he was being dragged under. He was just so over whelmed with the hell his life had become recently that if he didn't stop himself from over-thinking, then he would lose it.

He was still in the process of trying to clear his head when he met up with Blaine in the garage.

"Kurt…" Blaine said again. His voice trailing of as if he wanted to say more but couldn't.

"Let's start with the transmission, shall we?" Kurt asked with the tone of someone describing the weather with a stranger. It was indifferent and distant and keeping Blaine far away, even when he was standing right next to him.

They continued on with that same indifferent air about them until about an hour and half in when they came to an awkward silence and Blaine just had to fill it.

"So, you seem to be pretty good at French." He stated as he handed Kurt a wrench.

"Yes, I am." Kurt answered focusing on his work not expecting this conversation to continue.

But, then Blaine asked, "Why do you like it so much?"

Kurt blinked down at the car's engine and furrowed his brows before standing up and looking at Blaine. "Why?"

"I don't know. Can't I just ask you a question?"

"Mhmm…" Kurt hummed derisively as he turned away from Blaine and ran an old rag over his hands.

"Oh come on, Kurt! Why do you have to act like that?"

"I don't know. Care to explain why you let assholes like Karofsky push your soul mate into lockers, without standing up for him, on a daily basis."

Blaine is silent for a very long time, and Kurt thinks he might have succeeded in shutting him up, but Blaine releases a very strangled, "I didn't know it was like that, Kurt."

"Oh, so that explains everything. It's okay because I didn't think it would physically hurt you. I hope you're smarter than you act, Blaine." Kurt turned to face Blaine, but the boy had turned his face downwards as if in shame, but Blaine was honestly just lost in thought.

"Kurt… I'm trying. It's… It's complicated."

"Nothing is really as complicated as it seems Blaine."

"Oh really? Then how the hell would you describe the situation between us?"

Kurt bites his lip and feels like kicking himself, because Blaine's right. Their whole relationship is the definition of complicated. He could smack Blaine for making a fool out of him, but instead turns to begin putting away the tools.

There's silence between them yet again, and while Kurt wanted nothing but that before, now he can't stand it. He can't let Blaine have the last word. His stubborn nature just won't allow that.

"You said you're trying. Trying what, exactly?"

Blaine's eyes finally lock on his and there's something that passes between them. Something that has no words but a feeling so strong it could convey everything they ever wanted to say to each other. There's hatred, anger, annoyance, pity, and longing.

So much longing it almost makes Kurt's knees buckle. It's not lust filled, but something else. It's like Blaine's eyes are holding back so many locked emotions that the longing is just for them to be free.

Blaine feels like he could explode at any minute during this exchange. His body and mind are being pulled in separate directions. But, Kurt still stands there, strong and steady as ever. He's an anchor that reminds Blaine that he can still have some control over his own life.

Blaine thinks to himself that if Kurt can have strength, then he can muster up enough as well.

"I don't know, Kurt. But, I know that if I never talk to you again, then I will regret it for the rest of my life. And, I know you can't stand me, but I have to do this. So, I'm going to be better… when it comes to you."

Blaine's face is flushed. He feels as if he's confessed his undying love for Kurt. While that sentiment was not there, it still feels just as intimate. He's on edge as he waits for Kurt to respond.

Kurt gives the faintest hint of a smile towards Blaine and says, "Funny how fate can do that."

The next couple of days are actually better. Kurt's only thrown into the lockers once and slushied twice.

All of these acts are committed by, one, Dave Karofsky.

Azimio and the others still stalk the halls, but Karofsky seems to have his sights set on Kurt. This would probably bother Kurt a lot more, but he has a distraction.

Blaine Anderson.

At school they might share nothing more than a quick smile, because Blaine is still a jock and Kurt is still… Kurt, but the nights at the garage are a different story now.

It started out tentative with Blaine only asking a few questions here and there. What was Kurt's favorite movie (anything with Julie Andrews), his favorite color (various shades of gray, but he'd taken up a liking for green lately), or his favorite TV show (Project Runway). Kurt would laugh at Blaine's questions, which made Blaine smile. Now, they were venturing off into anecdotes. Kurt told stories about his Dad, Carol, and Finn, his childhood, and he even found himself opening up about his Mom.

"…She liked to plant flowers. We had a garden in the backyard with a bench, and she would sit there and read to me. Summer was always the best because it would be her and me. So… that's my favorite memory." Kurt finished with a smile and tightened a bolt in the car's engine.

Blaine's face was a slate of pity. Kurt couldn't stand it.

"I wish you wouldn't look at me like that." Kurt said softly as he leaned against the car.

Blaine blinked and confusion replaced the pity. "Look at you like what?"

"With pity. Like my life is so horrible all you can do is feel bad for me. Please don't. I'm actually quite happy, besides the bullying of course, but I have Dad, Carol, Finn, and all of Glee club. Even if we're a little… dysfunctional I wouldn't trade them for anything."

Blaine gave a small smile and looked sheepish. "I didn't even know I was doing that. I'm sorry. Sometimes it's hard to hide what I'm feeling."

"I know what you mean."

"How do you do it?" Blaine blurted out.

Their eyes locked and there was that same damn feeling again. This connected longing that shook Kurt to his very core.

"Do what?" Kurt's voice wavered a little and he had to quickly cough to cover it up.

Blaine paused, choosing his words very carefully it seemed, and said, "With the bullying, and the intolerance, and people hating you… without… truly knowing what you are. You're… Y-you never let to seem to bother you that much. How?"

Kurt shrugged because, in all honesty, that was all just a part of his life now. He couldn't change the way people though, but he could keep moving forward.

"I've found the best way to tell everyone to piss off is to not let them bother me. They're no one. I know that I'm not, and I refuse to relent to some one less than me."

Their eyes were still focused on each other. Blaine could almost feel Kurt's heart beat even though he was three feet away from him. Blaine suddenly realized the true depth of his and Kurt's connection; that it was more powerful than he could even begin to wrap his head around. But, they were so far apart. Even when Kurt was standing right next to him they were miles away.

Blaine longed to be connected to Kurt. More than anything he wanted to connect his lips to Kurt's right now, but sickening cracks and screams kept echoing within the recesses of his mind. There reminiscent bright flashes of light and the dull memory of pain across his left shoulder blade.

Like a chain these memories held Blaine back from reaching Kurt.

"Oh." He finally breathed. "That makes a lot of sense I guess." He forced a laugh with a smile at Kurt.

"Yes… it does." Kurt's lips twitched at the corners, but his eyes held questions that weren't there before.

Blaine berated himself and made the mental note to work on controlling his facial expressions yet again.

The next few days for Kurt became steadily worse at school. Karofsky was relentless now in his bullying. He wasn't even in a group anymore, but instead just harassing Kurt by himself.

Kurt was pushed into the lockers three times one day, and by the end of it he was about to explode.

"Shit!" he screamed when the part he was carrying slipped out of his oil slicked hands and tumbled to the ground.

Blaine looked over from where he was bent over the engine with raised eyebrows. He watched as Kurt huffed, picked up the part, and slammed it down on the work- table.

"Woah, easy Kurt. You don't want to break it." Blaine said softly walking over to examine the piece.

"I don't care!" Kurt gesticulated and slumped against the car.

The action caused Kurt's shoulder, which was covered in dark bruises, to hit the side of the car harshly. He let out of hiss of pain and leaned forward with his face scrunched in pain.

"Damn it…" he breathed out.

Blaine walked right up to him and gently gripped Kurt's upper arms forcing him to look up. This was the first time they had ever touched. Kurt immediately forgot about the pain coursing through his upper body. He might have forgotten to breathe but Blaine was talking and his focus was on the way Blaine's eyes seemed to go on forever.

"Kurt is it getting worse?"

"W-what?" Kurt's brain seemed to be going haywire with the proximity of Blaine.

"Kurt." Blaine said more forcefully and gripping him a little harder. "Is the bullying getting worse?"

"N-n…" he started but he knew that they was no way he could lie to Blaine. The too earnest look that was penetrating right through him was enough to drag the words from Kurt's lips. "Yes." He muttered dropping the gaze.

Blaine let his grip lessen and leaned back slowly, but he did not drop his hands.

"Shit. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. Well… not anymore. You stopped doing it." Kurt managed a very weak chuckle.

"But I'm not preventing anything either! I-I… could try and do something?" Blaine's voice became very soft at the end, and Kurt could tell that Blaine probably wasn't actually willing to do something. But it wasn't Kurt hearing the remnants of echoing breaks and pain. Blaine almost visibly winced at his memories. He just managed to hide it from Kurt before the other boy answered.

"No. This isn't your battle. You've already done what you can."

Blaine was silent for a long time, and Kurt thought the conversation was over before he heard him speak. "I may not be able to fight your battles for you Kurt, but you can."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at this as if to say continue.

"Fight back. Stand up for yourself. Bullies pray on the weak but that's not what you are. Show him your strength and he'll back down."

"You sure about that?" Kurt asked dubitably.

"It's worth a shot."

Kurt was quiet as he mulled over Blaine's words in his head. Maybe it was better than doing nothing. The way things were right now couldn't go on any more.

"Maybe." Was his answer to Blaine and the small, but genuine, smile that appeared made Kurt forget about his troubles for just a little while.

Then, the next day happened. Kurt had been walking down the hall when another shove from Karofsky caused him to snap. He took off down the hall after him. His anger was searing underneath his skin, and adrenaline was pounding through his veins.

They ended up in the locker room. Kurt was yelling and his pride grew with the act of standing up to him. He wasn't going to take this any longer. Karofsky was nothing and wasn't going to control his life anymore.

Karofsky kissed him. He had leaned in abruptly, shutting Kurt up, and kissed him.

Kurt's words left him then along with any sense of feeling. It was all he could to do to push the other boy away when he insanely leant in for another kiss.

He stayed in the locker room for a while after Karofsky left. He couldn't feel anything; all he could do was play the scene over and over again in his head.

The final bell rang telling him that school was over and that he had better leave or else someone would find him there and start asking questions.

He drove the garage simply out of habit. If you asked him if he remembered the drive he would tell you no, because his thoughts were all on that horrid kiss.

Over and over and over it replayed in his head. He couldn't make the feeling or the taste go away.

The worst part was that had been his first kiss.

He found Blaine where he normally was already setting up for the afternoon's work.

"Hey Kurt!" he said happily.

The smile washed off his face when he noticed Kurt's face. It was pale and there was no light shining behind his normally bright blue eyes. He seemed so far away, like he was slowly folding in on himself.

"Kurt what's wrong?" Blaine asked with a hint of panic rising up in his chest.

Kurt's empty eyes focused in on Blaine. "It didn't work. I… he… it just didn't work Blaine." Kurt's voice wavered and then he broke out in sobs as the flood gates opened. He fell to his knees and Blaine followed him down, reaching out to rub his shoulder. He hiccupped to Blaine what had happened in the locker room; his sobs wrecking through his body.

When he finished his story he looked up to see Blaine's horror struck face. It just made him cry harder.

"P-please… don't look… like that Blaine." Kurt just couldn't handle how horrible the situation was. It was one thing for him to be so repulsed by the situation, but another story for Blaine to think the same thing.

Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt in a comforting hug. "I don't know what to say." He whispered. "I don't know what to do."

They were both lost as to what to do, but for now all Kurt needed was for Blaine to be there; to have someone understand and to confide in. A week ago Kurt would have never thought it, but now all he needed was Blaine.


	4. Chapter 4

Blaine didn't know what to do.

After Kurt had calmed down enough to rationalize the situation in his head he had begged Blaine not to tell anyone. Of course the first thing Blaine wanted to do was go and tell Burt, but his and Kurt's relationship was in a precarious enough position. He just couldn't risk it. These past couple of weeks with Kurt meant the world to him. To see Kurt in that much pain, hyperventilating and scared, Blaine felt something deep within the recesses of his heart break. Here was Kurt who was so strong and independent broken on the ground with only Blaine's cautious arms to anchor him.

This was not what Blaine was accustomed to.

They left the garage that Friday having done no work to the car and had barely spoken in the past two hours. Blaine looked over at Kurt unlocking his Navigator with a longing to follow him. Kurt's eyes were still puffy and he was sniffling every now and then to try and clear his nose. Before Kurt got into his car and Blaine lost him for two days he called out, "Kurt, you know if you need anything you can text me or call me. You don't have to be alone in all this."

Kurt was seated with one hand on the door handle. He looked contemplative for a moment before, "That's very kind of you Blaine, but I've been dealing with this for years. I'll find some new way to deal." He paused then, "Besides, here, at the garage, we have an excuse for being around each other. What excuse will you have if somebody finds out you've been calling and texting the resident homo. You wouldn't want your reputation ruined like that." Kurt then chose to meet Blaine's eyes. He had never seen them such an icy blue. There was chill that struck him through his chest and settled somewhere low in his belly. "Now would you?"

Blaine didn't have a chance to answer because Kurt then shut the door and pealed out the parking lot leaving him standing stunned.

Being covered in sweat, grease, and grim had never once made Blaine feel dirty. In fact he always embraced becoming disheveled and loving the physicality that came with the sweaty work.

But, Kurt's words made Blaine feel like dirt had settled within the joints of his bones and mud was pumping through his veins. He twitched trying to make the feeling go away, but it was still there. Kurt's words were bouncing around through his head. Did he mean that to be malicious? Blaine wanted to call Kurt… but what if someone did find out? Would he give them an excuse? Why the hell should he be explaining himself to anyone?

Blaine's head was pounding. His hands twitched and restlessness completely overtook his body. Which was why he had made his way over to the McKinley High football field and was now repeatedly kicking field goal after field goal.

His body was aching with the force that he was kicking. His leg snapped and a sharp pain twisted underneath his knee. There were pinpricks in his feet and behind his knees that were there probably because he wasn't wearing adequate shoes. He hadn't eaten since lunch at eleven that morning, and yet he didn't care. There was nothing his could do to make himself feel less dirty or for Kurt's tone of malice to leave him.

He had kicked yet another field goal when she spoke to him.

"Hey hobbit." He snapped his head towards to his left to find Santana Lopez standing in her Cheerios uniform with Brittany Pierce standing a couple yards back. Brittany seemed to be focused on looking at the sky, but Santana's eyes were narrowed on him.

"Can a help you with something?" he asked exasperatedly. Just standing there doing nothing was making him start twitching again.

"Not really. Unless you want to tell me what you fucked up badly enough that you had to come out here to blow off steam?" She cocked her manicured eyebrow with an all-knowing smirk.

Damn Santana Lopez.

"I didn't do anything." He turned back towards the field goal.

"I'm sure. Have fun working yourself up. But, it's not going to fix anything." With that she turned on her heel to walk back towards Brittany. But, before they walked off the field she called over to him, "You know, emotional suppression causes stunted growth and I'd hate for you to get even shorter. So, if you ever want to talk you can come to Britt and me. We're pretty good at keeping secrets."

They left then. Blaine stood for a moment with a furrowed brow considering her offer and then turned back to kicking the ever-living shit out of the footballs.

The weekend came and went with no word from Kurt. Blaine had spent a good part of Saturday in the bath trying to relax his sore muscles, but there was still a dull throb in his legs when he walked into school on Monday.

The first thing he wanted to do, or course, was to go find Kurt and make sure he was okay. But, a second of quick thinking reminded him that, no, this was McKinley and that he and Kurt weren't supposed to talk here. So, instead, he marched over to his locker and mechanically opened it, busying himself until the bell rang for class.

He just wanted to know if Kurt was okay, but he had no way of finding out until French class later that day.

It was five minutes after he heard the bell go off when Kurt decided to make his way into the school building. This seemed like the safest thing to do when Karofsky could be looming in the halls waiting to pounce on him at any moment.

He was at his locker feeling confident that he would make it to class in the clear, but when he shut it he saw Karofsky waiting for him. He was trapped like an animal being hunted.

"There you are." Karofsky seemed… almost relieved?

"I don't want you near me." Kurt managed to splutter out pressing himself as close to the lockers as physics would allow.

"Look, you didn't tell any one did you?" There was that subtle rage that Kurt knew so well.

"No." It was an easy lie. Within these walls Blaine was no one to him. He was no one to Blaine.

"Good, because if you tell anyone… I'm going to kill you."

With that Karofsky left and Kurt was still pressed up against his locker with his heart hammering in his throat.

There was no need for an excuse when Kurt dropped his books and ran out of the school. The only thing screaming inside his head was 'getoutgetoutgetoutgetout.'

Blaine arrived anxiously early for French with his eyes locked on the door. His heart leapt and fell every time the door opened and his realized Kurt hadn't walked through. Then, class started and horrid disappointment and dread creeped over Blaine and seeped into his skin. He didn't pay attention to the lecture, instead his hands twitched with the ache to leave and find Kurt.

Mercifully, the bell rang and Blaine ran through his options only to find that his best choice was in the room down the hall and to the left.

Blaine awkwardly walked into the choir room, quickly scanning it for the person he was looking for.

Finn was seated in the first row of chairs staring blankly at Rachel as she shuffled through a binder full of sheet music. There were a few others in the room as well. Mike Chang and his girlfriend, Tina, were waltzing around the piano while a tiny bearded man with glasses played the music. Quinn Fabray chose that moment to walk into the room and was the first to take notice of Blaine's foreign stance.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with that tone that always implied that she was secretly judging you are.

"I-I'm looking for Finn." Blaine stammered under her gaze, shifting over to glance at Finn hoping he would notice.

Finn looked up, saw Blaine, and his normally already confused face just grew the more so.

"Yeah, dude, what's up?"

"I just need to talk to you about something…" Blaine was now painfully away that every eye in the room was now scrutinizing him "… alone, just for a second, please."

"Yeah, sure."

Finn got up and followed Blaine into the hallway. The latter taking a deep breath before asking, "Do you know where Kurt's at?"

Finn blinked before shaking his head. "No, we drove separately this morning. He said something about needing extra time for a routine… or something, but yeah, he left later than usual. We don't have any classes together either. Why? What's going on?"

"Dammit." Blaine murmured before saying, "Kurt wasn't in French today. I'm… worried."

"No offense, man, but why should you be concerned about Kurt at all. You basically shun him every day."

There it was again, the mud seeping in, the fine layer of dirt that he could feel resting amongst the hairs of his skin. Blaine was beginning to think he might never feel clean again.

"Kurt's been helping me with my car… we've been talking outside of school and he's really nice, but…"

"But what, Blaine?" Finn was started to do that scary football player thing when they tend to puff up when they felt the need to hit something… or someone.

"But, something's happened and now Kurt's not here!" Blaine was just begging Finn with his mind to calm down and just understand.

"What happened? What did you do?"

"Nothing! I did nothing! It's up to Kurt to tell you what happened or not. It's his business and not mine! Now, can you just tell me where you think he might be so I can go find him?" Blaine pleaded.

Finn seemed to calm down some, but his anger was now replaced with worry. "I don't know… the mall? At home? We can look. I can come with you."

"No, I'll find him. I don't need the rest of the Glee club trying to kill me when they don't understand. Are you sure those are the places of where he might be?"

Finn opened his mouth, but a soft, airy voice answered instead with, "Cedar Creek Cemetery."

Blaine looked around Finn to find Brittany standing in the doorway with wide blue eyes. "You'll find my dolphin there."

"Brittany! I don't have time for this!" Blaine nearly screamed. Why couldn't he just get a straight answer?

"No, Blaine. She means Kurt." Finn explained. "It's like… her nickname for him."

Blaine blinked and glanced back at Brittany. "Are you sure?"

"As positive as Quinn's pregnancy test. Come on Finn you still need to learn how to not knock things over when you pivot step." She grabbed his hand and with a flick of her ponytail they were both gone.

It took some navigation, but fifteen minutes later Blaine found himself searching through the rows of tombstones at Cedar Creek Cemetery.

He found him far back. The grave was located close to the trees and when he walked closer the bubbling from the creek grew gently louder.

Under Elizabeth Hummel's tombstone slept her son. He was curled into the fetal position with a bouquet of blue flowers clutched in his hand. Blaine could tell he had been crying. His cheeks were faintly red and blotchy and his eyes looked swollen.

Blaine's first instinct was to wake him, but this was probably the most sleep Kurt had gotten in a couple of days, and he just couldn't find the heart to wake him up.

So, instead, Blaine lay down next to Kurt and affixed his eyes upwards to watch the clouds lolling by. They would need to leave soon since the nights were starting to get colder. But, even in this gravesite surrounded by nothing but the dead, Blaine still felt warm.

"Blaine?" Kurt's voice croaked, calling Blaine's attention.

"Hey. Brittany told me you'd be here. Wanna talk?"

"Not really."

Blaine took a moment to consider before, "You're going to have to sometime Kurt. Why weren't you in class? Was it because of the kiss?"

"Yes." It was only a partial lie to Kurt. It was what had started this whole ordeal anyway.

Blaine considered this for a moment. His hazel eyes focused on clouds that Kurt could see reflected in their depths.

"Kurt, I know that that was not exactly how you planned on your first kiss going. But, it's up to you whether or not you truly consider that to be it. You can still have your real first kiss since you didn't want Karofsky to kiss you. What he did wasn't what you want or need… It's up to you."

There was silence for a little bit when all that was heard was the gentle tones of the creek and the rustling of the trees.

Kurt's voice was low when he spoke. "It doesn't realty matter what I think of it. It won't change the fact that that will more than likely be the only kiss I'll ever get from a guy."

Blaine knew what he was talking about. He knew he shouldn't say it, but in true form it slipped out, "What do you mean?"

"Don't be an idiot, Blaine. We both know you know what I meant."

"Kurt…" he managed to speak.

"My first and only kiss was supposed to be you. Call me foolish, but I was willing to wait for Blaine Anderson. He was supposed to be mine and I was supposed to be his. However, I get a boy who doesn't even want to talk to me in school, much less ever kiss me." Kurt seemed to be talking to himself now.

"Who said I didn't want to kiss you?" Blaine was so quiet he barely heard the words coming out of his mouth, but he knew they were true. Blaine very much wanted to kiss Kurt. He had since that first encounter in the shop. Right now though, Blaine couldn't even meet the other boy's eyes.

"There's… so much, Kurt. That you don't know. I have my reasons, I swear. But, not everyone is as strong as you are. I'm sorry I can't be that knight that comes in and sweeps you off your feet, but I… I just can't right now. I can't…" Blaine didn't realize until the end that there were tears threatening to spill onto his face.

A soft, warm hand reached across for his and Blaine was finally able to meet those orbs. They were shining with a hundred different emotions that each had a name, but all Blaine could do was put a name to the person these eyes belonged to.

Kurt.

His Kurt.

_His Kurt_.

They met in the middle and when their lips touched it was like both of them had been consumed by other. Everything Kurt and everything was Blaine. Their lips moved naturally, made for this moment. Imaginary sparks being set off with each little movement. Blaine reached up and gently clasped Kurt's cheek while Kurt's fingers found their way to the curls at the top of Blaine's neck. Kurt deepened the kiss by sucking Blaine's bottom lip into his mouth and brushing his tongue against it.

Blaine let out the softest groan as their tongues gently tangled together. His head was swimming, but this couldn't stop. It was much too good to stop. Slowly Blaine pressed Kurt onto his back and settled halfway on top of him, gripping him closer. Their bodies pressed together creating all new sensations that Blaine desperately wanted to memorize.

This was the first kiss Kurt needed.

When it finally broke, Blaine pulled away to search Kurt's eyes. They were twinkling with awe and hope that Blaine had yet seen. He needed that. He needed to see the light shining in Kurt's eyes. He never wanted it to fade.

"Will you wait for me?" He found himself asking, never once looking away from Kurt's eyes. "For me to be what you need me to."

Out, courageous, proud, devoted, independent, those were some of the things Kurt needed Blaine to be. Those were some of the things that Blaine wanted to be.

"I never stopped waiting for you." Kurt stated with a smile. It didn't matter how long it took. The Fates had decided that Kurt needed Blaine, and who was he to question that?


End file.
